A study to compare the knowledge of school students before and after seeing a media campaign about the health risks of chewing khat
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN36908722 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN36908722 |
- Submission date
- 30/10/2024
- Registration date
- 06/11/2024
- Last edited
- 11/12/2024
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Khat is a green leaf with amphetamine effects commonly chewed in the Khat Belt region and the southern Arabian Peninsula. It is well-established in the literature that habitual khat chewing is associated with negative impacts on oral, general, and mental health. In the past, khat chewing was regulated by social norms, including the expectation that chewers should be over 18 years old and that khat chewing should be practiced after completing daily work. However, over the past 20 years, this behavior has spiralled out of control, with even school children engaging in khat chewing. It is well established that health-related risk behaviours begin in or before adolescence and schools have been used as venues for prevention risk behaviours, e.g., tobacco. Therefore, this study’s main aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of an awareness programme on the adverse health risks of khat chewing (AHRKC) among secondary school students. In addition, the study aimed to explore the variables associated with post-intervention awareness.
Who can participate?
Students aged 15-22 years were included in the study if they attended public secondary schools in Aden City, were registered in the second level of study for the 2013/2014 academic year, had resided in Aden for at least the last 2 years, were willing to participate and be consented, and were of Yemeni nationality. Students with special needs were excluded due to a lack of funds to support their participation, as were those of non-Yemeni nationality.
What does the study involve?
Students are allocated to one of the groups of the study (intervention or control group). Both groups at the baseline phase filled out the same questionnaire about the awareness of the impact of khat chewing and data about participants was obtained.
The intervention started immediately after the baseline measurements. The intervention was conducted among the intervention group for a 3-month anti-khat campaign, highlighting the harm associated with khat chewing and involving an educational programme (lectures and seminars) and printed mass media (billboards, posters, brochures, and wall magazines). As there were no TV facilities in Aden schools, broadcasts were conducted using documentary films and motion pictures that interpreted factual material for educational or entertainment purposes. In addition, announcements were made during morning assemblies. There were four billboards, 13 posters, two types of brochures (one for males, the other for females), and various wall magazines in the intervention schools delivering messages about the harmful effects of khat chewing. A documentary movie was produced using the data show technique to substitute for TV in schools without such facilities. Students were required to collect information about the khat plant from the internet to be displayed in the wall magazines and presented during the morning assembly. Additionally, a specialist in public health delivered an educational programme consisting of lectures and seminars. Each educational session lasted approximately 35 minutes and involved a PowerPoint presentation using the data show technique. Both groups were evaluated after 3 months regarding their awareness of khat chewing impacts on health using the same questionnaire used in the baseline phase.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
All groups receive educational awareness about the adverse impact of khat on health. At the conclusion of the study, all intervention materials and sessions were delivered to control groups if they wished to benefit and to ensure ethical compliance. By taking part in this study there are no risks of physical injury or harm. The intervention consists of questionnaires that guarantee the confidentiality of the information obtained and all the guidelines of the Helsinki Declaration were followed.
Where is the study run from?
The study is run by the University of Aden and takes place in four public schools located in Khur-Maksar, Shaikh Outhman Al-Mualla and Al-Mansura in Aden, Yemen.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2012 to December 2024
Who is funding the study?
Investigator initiated and funded
Who is the main contact?
Saba Kassim, skassim@taibahu.edu.sa
Contact information
Public, Scientific, Principal Investigator
Taibah University
Dental Public Health
AlMadinah AlMunawwarah
42353
Saudi Arabia
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-6236-3390 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +966 (0)535558878 |
| skassim@taibahu.edu.sa |
Study information
| Study design | Multicentered interventional double-blinded randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | School |
| Study type | Prevention, Quality of life |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | Impact of mass media education campaign on school students’ awareness of khat chewing adverse health risks: a pre-post experimental study in Aden, Yemen |
| Study acronym | AHRKC |
| Study objectives | It is hypothesized that implementing a mass media education campaign would enhance school students’ awareness of khat chewing's adverse health risks (AHRKC) compared to students in the control group and that this awareness would be associated with sociodemographic characteristics and awareness of AHRKC. |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 26/01/2013, University of Aden Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Ethical Approval Committee (PO Box 878, Crater, Aden, 8916162, Yemen; + 967 (0)2 236625 / 231763; info@adenmedicalfaculty.com), ref: 20131026 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Prevention of khat chewing among school children |
| Intervention | Mass media education campaign on school students’ awareness of khat chewing adverse health risks This study was conducted in the city of Aden, Yemen. Four of the eight districts in Aden were randomly selected using a simple multistage sampling technique involving a lottery box. Subsequently, two of these four districts were randomly chosen to serve as intervention sites, while the remaining two were designated as control sites. As a result, Khur-Maksar and Shaikh Outhman were selected as the intervention districts, and Al-Mualla and Al-Mansura were selected as the control districts. The final step involved selecting students from both intervention and control schools. At the beginning of the study both groups answer self-administered questionnaires about the adverse impacts of khat chewing on health. The intervention group for the subsequent three months are exposed to an awareness campaign about the impacts of khat. By the end of the 3 months both groups were assessed again about awareness of khat impacts using the same baseline questionnaire. |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | Awareness of the adverse effects of khat chewing, measured using a relevant questionnaire that was used by the International Tobacco Control at baseline and after 3 months |
| Secondary outcome measures | Factors associated with enhanced awareness of adverse health effects of khat chewing, measured using a relevant questionnaire that was used by the International Tobacco Control at baseline and after 3 months |
| Overall study start date | 01/01/2012 |
| Completion date | 01/12/2024 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Learner/student |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 15 Years |
| Upper age limit | 22 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 450 |
| Total final enrolment | 427 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Students attending public secondary schools in Aden City 2. Registered in the second level of study for the 2013/2014 academic year 3. Resided in Aden for at least the last 2 years 4. Yemeni nationality |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Students with special needs were excluded due to lack of funds to support their participation 2. Non-Yemeni nationality 3. Refused to be consented |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/02/2013 |
| Date of final enrolment | 01/05/2013 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Yemen
Study participating centre
8916162
Yemen
Sponsor information
University/education
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
PO Box 878
Crater
Aden
8916162
Yemen
| Phone | +967 (0)2 236625 / 231763 |
|---|---|
| info@adenmedicalfaculty.com | |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/02w043707 |
Funders
Funder type
Other
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/01/2025 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in a peer-reviewed journal. |
| IPD sharing plan | The dataset generated during the current study will be available upon request from the principal investigator Dr Mohamed AlKaf (msakaff@gmail.com) |
Editorial Notes
11/12/2024: The plain English summary was corrected to match the age range in the inclusion criteria.
06/11/2024: Study's existence confirmed by the University of Aden Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Ethical Approval Committee.
